The Lord is good to those who wait for Him
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him
La 3:1-42 9/7/08 a.m.
1wait \ˈwāt\ vb
[ME, fr. AF waiter, guaiter to watch over, await, of Gmc origin; akin to OHG wahta watch, OE w+ccan to watch — more at wake] vt 14c
1 : to stay in place in expectation of : await 〈waited the result of the advertisement —W. M. Thackeray〉 〈wait your turn〉
2 : to delay serving (a meal)
3 : to serve as waiter for 〈wait tables〉 vi
1 a : to remain stationary in readiness or expectation 〈wait for a train〉
b : to pause for another to catch up — usu. used with up
2 a : to look forward expectantly 〈just waiting to see his rival lose〉
b : to hold back expectantly 〈waiting for a chance to strike〉
3 : to serve at meals — usu. used in such phrases as wait on tables or wait on table
4 a : to be ready and available 〈slippers waiting by the bed〉
b : to remain temporarily neglected or unrealized 〈the chores can wait〉 [1]
The Prophet’s Anguish and Hope
Jeremiah proposes his own experience under afflictions, as an example as to how the Jews should behave under theirs, so as to have hope of a restoration;[2]
La 3:1-42
I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
his own in the dungeon of Malchiah
2 He has led me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
calamity & not prosperity
3 Surely He has turned His hand against me
Time and time again throughout the day.
4 He has aged my flesh and my skin,
And broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me
mounds, as against a besieged city, so as to allow none to escape
And surrounded me with bitterness and woe
hardship or weariness.
6 He has set me in dark places
Like the dead of long ago.
7 He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out;
He has made my chain heavy.
literally, “chain of brass
8 Even when I cry and shout,
He shuts out my prayer.
9 He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
as not to admit of being broken through.
He has made my paths crooked.
thwarted our plans and efforts so that none went right.
10 He has been to me a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in ambush.
11 He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He has bent His bow
And set me up as a target for the arrow.
13 He has caused the arrows of His quiver
literally, “sons” of His quiver
To pierce my loins.
14 I have become the ridicule of all my people—
Jeremiah herein was a type of Messiah
Their taunting song all the day.
15 He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink wormwood.
16 He has also broken my teeth
with gravel, referring to the grit that often mixes with bread baked in ashes, as is the custom of baking in the East
And covered me with ashes.
17 You have moved my soul far from peace;
I have forgotten prosperity.
Not only present, but all hope of future prosperity is removed; so much so, that I am as one who never was prosperous) (“I forgat prosperity”.
18 And I said, “My strength and my hope
Have perished from the Lord.”
that is, my hope derived from Him
19 Remember my affliction and roaming,
The wormwood and the gall.
This gives the reason why he gave way to the temptation to despair
20 My soul still remembers
And sinks within me.
As often as my soul calls them to remembrance, it is humbled or bowed down in me
21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
His very weakness gives him hope of God interposing His strength for him
22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”
To have God for our portion is the one only foundation of hope
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
that is, to be patiently quiet under afflictions, resting in the will of God
27 It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
yoke—of the Lord’s disciplinary teaching (Ps 90:12; 119:71). Calvin interprets it, The Lord’s doctrine (Mt 11:29, 30), which is to be received in a docile spirit. The earlier the better; for the old are full of prejudices (Pr 8:17; Ec 12:1). Jeremiah himself received the yoke, both of doctrine and chastisement in his youth (Je 1:6, 7).[3]
(The repetition of “good” at the beginning of each of the three verses heightens the effect.)
28 Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him;
The fruit of true docility and patience. He does not fight against the yoke (Je 31:18; Ac 9:5), but accommodates himself to it.
alone— The child of God, in the absence of any witness, “alone,” silently submits to the will of God.
borne it upon him—that is, because He (the Lord, La 3:26) hath laid it on him”
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust—
The mouth in the dust is the attitude of suppliant and humble submission to God’s dealings as righteous and loving in design (compare Ezr 9:6; 1Co 14:25).
There may yet be hope.
if so be there may be hope—This does not express doubt as to whether God be willing to receive the penitent, but the penitent’s doubt as to himself; he whispers to himself this consolation, “Perhaps there may be hope for me.”
30 Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And be full of reproach.
Messiah, the Antitype, fulfilled this; His practice agreeing with His precept (Is 50:6; Mt 5:39). Many take patiently afflictions from God, but when man wrongs them, they take it impatiently. The godly bear resignedly the latter, like the former, as sent by God (Ps 17:13).
31 For the Lord will not cast off forever.
True repentance is never without hope (Ps 94:14).
32 Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
The punishments of the godly are but for a time.
33 For He does not afflict willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.
He does not afflict any willingly (literally, “from His heart,” that is, as if He had any pleasure in it, Ez 33:11), much less the godly (Heb 12:10).
34 To crush under one’s feet
All the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the justice due a man
Before the face of the Most High,
36 Or subvert a man in his cause—
The Lord does not approve.
God approves, not of such unrighteous acts;
37 Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass,
When the Lord has not commanded it?
Who is it that can (as God, Ps 33:9) effect by a word anything, without the will of God?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That woe and well-being proceed?
Calamity and prosperity alike proceed from God
Job 2:10; 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Is 45:7; 7 I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create calamity;
I, the Lord, do all these things.’
Am 3:6 6 If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?
If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?
39 Why should a living man complain,
A man for the punishment of his sins?
Having a time given by God for repentance;
If sin were punished as it deserves, life itself would be forfeited by the sinner.
“Complaining” (murmuring) ill becomes him who enjoys such a favor as life (Pr 19:3).
Instead of blaming God for his sufferings, he ought to recognize in them God’s righteousness and the just rewards of his own sin.
40 Let us search out and examine our ways,
Jeremiah and his fellow countrymen in their calamity.
search—as opposed to the torpor wherewith men rest only on their outward sufferings, without attending to the cause of them (Ps 139:23, 24).
And turn back to the Lord;
41 Let us lift our hearts and hands
To God in heaven.
heart with … hands—the antidote to hypocrisy (Ps 86:4; 1Ti 2:8).
42 We have transgressed and rebelled;
You have not pardoned.
The Babylonian captivity had not yet ended.
The Lord’s message
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
To have God for our portion is the one only foundation of hope
God is good to those that are patiently quiet under afflictions, resting in the will of God
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\
\ə\ abut \ə\ kitten, F table \ər\ further \a\ ash \ā\ ace \ä\ mop, mar
\au̇\ out \ch\ chin \e\ bet \ē\ easy \g\ go \i\ hit \ī\ ice \j\ job
\ŋ\ sing \ō\ go \ȯ\ law \ȯi\ boy \th\ thin \ṯẖ\ the \ü\ loot \u̇\ foot
\y\ yet \zh\ vision, beige \ḵ, n, œ, ue, y\ see Guide to Pronunciation
vb verb
ME Middle English
fr from
AF Anglo-French
Gmc Germanic
OHG Old High German
OE Old English
c century
usu usually
[1]Merriam-Webster, I. (2003). Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary. Includes index. (Eleventh ed.). Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, Inc.
[2]Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (La 3:1). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[3]Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (La 3:27). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.